Swan Lake
Swan Lake is a ballet composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875-76. It consists of elements from Russian folk tales. It is about Princess Odette who was turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. Plot Prince Siegfried goes to his 21st birthday where his mother presents him with a crossbow. When she tells him that he is of age and that his marriage would be quickly arranged, he goes to the forest with his crossbow. In the forest he sees a swan with a crown on her head. At dusk she turns into a young woman, Odette, the Swan Queen. She tells the prince that an evil sorcerer has turned her and the other girls into swans and the lake are the tears of her parents. She tells him the spell can be broken if a man pure of heart would pledge his love to her. The prince goes to do so but is interrupted by the evil sorcerer. The sorcerer takes Odette from the prince and escapes. The next day, the prince is presented with many princesses, but he can't stop thinking about Odette. His mother commands him to choose a bride, but he can't. The sorcerer comes with his daughter Odile disguised as Odette. The prince dances with her, not knowing Odette is watching from a window. He confesses his love for Odette to Odile. Odette flees but the prince sees her and realizes his mistake. Odile is then revealed to him. The prince leaves and goes after Odette who has gone back to the lake. The prince finds her and explains that he'd been tricked. She forgives him, but the sorcerer reappears who demands that the prince marry his daughter. They fight, the prince claiming that he would rather die than marry Odile instead of Odette. He then takes Odette's hand and they jump into the lake and drown. The spell is broken and the maidens drive the sorcerer and Odile into the lake to drown also. Tales of Evermagic In Evermagic, Odette is the daughter of a Valkyrie and human prince. She becomes the first swan maiden, inheriting her wings as a cloak from her mother. She is captured by the sorcerer, Rothbart and taken to a lake with other maidens he's also captured. The prince comes and meets her and they fall in love. From there the story mirrors that of the original Swan Lake, save that the two have a child who becomes the king of the area in which the lake was. From their story the kingdom of Eale is born. Their line is responsible for the birth of the swan maidens, but because of the prince's mistake with Odile, their line is also cursed that, should a daughter be born with a black cloak, she will become evil and cause destruction wherever she goes. The Silver Swan The sixth book in Evermagic is a retelling of Swan Lake. It introduces Valkyrie, dragons, and angels. Relivings The Silver Swan Aderes is a Valkyrie who has been born into the Eale family's line to become a swan maiden in order to recover her greater power beyond that of a Valkyrie's. But she's willing to postpone her return to the stars when she falls in love with a human. When he betrays her, she realizes that not all love is pure and fights to take back her kingdom from him and struggles to protect it from the black swan who is also her sister.